(Indianapolis) After losing consecutive monthly meeting dates to winter weather, the Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) today tackled several key issues, including extending the testing windows for ISTEP/IMAST, adopting new social studies standards, and debating teacher licensing requirements during its seven and half hour meeting.

Following requests from multiple school corporations, the SBOE extended the testing windows for the spring multiple-choice ISTEP and IMAST tests. The spring ISTEP testing window is now April 28-May 13 and the IMAST period from April 28-May 9. The change is anticipated to provide flexibility for school districts that lost instructional days due to severe winter weather.

The timeline for the ongoing review of math and English/language arts standards was also modified, with the Education Roundtable to review the recommended drafts on April 21 and the SBOE meeting to follow in late April. Timelines were adjusted to allow staff sufficient time to effectively review more than 1,400 on-line comments as well as to consider input from national evaluators.

Under the regular six-year cycle of standards review, social studies standards were up for adoption, following a process which began last summer and involved more than 175 Hoosier social studies teachers. The resulting drafts were not substantially different from the 2007 version, and will be accompanied by a resource guide prepared by the Indiana Department of Education (DOE), a practice recommended by the reviewing teachers which has become more popular across the country.

Board member Cari Whicker told the group that after receiving several constituent emails, she sat down to compare the previous standards, marking the existing standards in green marker and the new words in orange. She said the standards were substantially similar, finding approximately 25 word changes in the elementary/middle school grades.

“I taught social studies for 14 years, and my middle school standards differed only by a few words,” Whicker said. “The high school version changed in that examples that were previously included in the standards text are now listed in a separate reference sheet. They’re still in here, but now in the reference documents, which also offers links to papers and resources that really help me as a middle school teacher.”

The SBOE also considered feedback to the proposed rulemaking for teacher licensure, known as REPA III, with a variety of opinions across all issues for both teacher and administrator licenses. The current rules were adopted in 2010 and the proposed revisions drew more than 1000 online and public hearing comments. Debate included use of adjunct permits, administrator requirements and reciprocity with other states. Staff will reflect the comments in a new draft to the SBOE likely in April.

The Board also took under advisement the appeal of a transportation reimbursement dispute between Hamilton Heights and Fayette County School Corporations, approved a motion to allow the Glenwood Leadership Academy in Evansville to continue working with management partner Mass Insight in conjunction with greater oversight by the DOE and SBOE, and heard updates on existing Turnaround Academies.

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